


I Wish...

by LannaBanzai



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-20
Updated: 2015-04-20
Packaged: 2018-03-24 22:32:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,906
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3786736
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LannaBanzai/pseuds/LannaBanzai
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The stars were something Emma had always loved. They were the one thing that was constant in her life. Even when the clouds were out, and rain filled the sky, even when she was in the city and the stars seemed so dim, she knew they were always there...</p>
            </blockquote>





	I Wish...

The stars were something Emma had always loved. They were the  _one_  thing that was constant in her life.

Even when the clouds were out, and rain filled the sky, even when she was in the city and the stars seemed so dim, she knew they were always there.

_Even in the daylight, she knew they were there._

They were something she could never live without.

When she was six years old, she overheard a kid in her class talking about wishing on a star, and how it came true. She knew that if she told anyone, her wish wouldn’t come true, not like it mattered.

Emma didn’t have wishes anymore, or anyone to tell them too.

But she couldn’t help the  _tiny_  amount of hope that built up in her. If it  _worked_ , if it was  _real_ , then this would be a wish that could change her life.

That night she sat in front of her window in her newest foster home, tired and lonely and her stomach growling. Her tiny hands clasped in front of her face and her eyes closed as she muttered under her breath.

“ _I wish I had a real family_.”

————————————————————————————————————————

The stars, something so clear in the night sky. Killian would always do his best to watch them, to see them. Liam used to tease him, telling him the stars weren’t going anywhere so he didn’t have to keep checking if they were there.

_He didn’t care, he checked anyways._

_They were the one constant thing in his life._

His father was gone, his mother was rarely home, Liam worked to keep them running.

The  _one_  thing Killian had were the stars.

The  _only_  thing Killian had, was the stars.

They were there every night when he sat alone in the dark. They were there when the house grew cold and the fire blew out.

Then one day, as he went to get things for his mother, he overheard some village children giggling about wishing on stars. He didn’t know they could be wished upon.

That night, Killian sat in front of the open window panes, his tiny hands holding each other as he closed his eyes. His voice hushed so he didn’t wake Liam.

“ _I wish my father would come back._ ”

————————————————————————————————————————

She was ten years old now.

 _Ten years of wasted love and endless torment_.

They stopped trying to get her into foster homes now, so she ended up in group homes.

_Group home after group home._

She stopped believing in wishing upon stars and silly childish thoughts a long time ago.

But on a particularly eventful day, when all her hopes had been built up only to be shot down again, Emma would sit in the window sill or on the porch or somewhere she could see the stars.

_They were her salvation._

_Her lights in the dark._

If she couldn’t see the stars, she wouldn’t sleep. They became something she held onto, something she had to protect.

_A secret that only she knew the significance of._

So with her hands held together, head tilted to the sky and eyes closed, Emma made a wish. She knew it would’t come true, she stopped believing they ever would. But they kept her sane.

_The wishes kept her going._

“ _I wish someone would keep me._ ”

————————————————————————————————————————

He was ten.

He was  _ten_ and his mother was  _gone._

_His mother was dead._

They had returned from her burial, Liam’s face nearly impassive as he tried his best to be strong.

_To be brave._

Killian followed his lead, his emotions displayed only in his clenched fists that hung at his sides. He didn’t speak that day, sitting silently as Liam moved about the house.

_Her house._

Liam was telling him he had to go away while Killian went to school. He was leaving, just like their father, just like their mother. He was leaving and Killian would be alone.

“Its the navy, Killian. I wish I could postpone my departure, but you know they don’t give any leeway.” He nodded stiffly, pulling all his emotions into his clenched fists.

That night he wished harder then before. If he said his wish more  _fiercely_ , if he  _repeated_  it, then  _maybe_  the stars would hear him.

Maybe they would carry his wish to the fairies and he would be granted this  _one_  thing.

“ _I wish I had my family._ ”

————————————————————————————————————————

Emma didn’t believe in the stars anymore.

_She knew they held no wishing power._

She had been to enough science classes to know that stars couldn’t be wished upon.

However, she had just lost a child she could never name, she’d lost a love who never returned.

So she sat, waiting hour after hour,  _debating_ ,  _deciding_.

Until finally she sat with fingers interlocked and a tiny smile on her face as she closed her eyes. The routine so familiar she didn’t even think about it.

She didn’t have to think about it.

She’d lost _nearly_ everything.

No, she  _had_  lost everything.

_Now she was determined to do something about it._

She took a deep breath, let a tiny smile flit across her face, and then finally settled on her wish. The one thing that could help her in this moment. The only thing she cared about with her stonewall blocks around her heart.

_She was just a lost little girl that didn’t matter, and never would._

She knew that now, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t make  _one_  last wish.

“ _I wish to…_ ” She hesitated, before dropping her hands.

_She had nothing left to wish for._

————————————————————————————————————————

Liam was gone. He had been so excited, so happy to be with his brother.

_To be in the Navy._

_To be a man his mother could be proud of._

The one thing he had to do, the only important thing, was to keep his brother safe.

_To make him proud._

_He seems to have failed on both parts._

He wanted to be a good man. One that could be respected. He’s going to have to exchange that respect for fear. Fear that only a pirate could instill in the souls of men. They would all have to learn his loss.

_Feel his revenge._

No, he may be a pirate now, but he still had a code.

He would get what he wanted with only good form, and a dash of pirating.

When darkness fell, and the stars finally reached a high point in the sky, Killian glanced to the second star on the right. He could make one final wish, one last wish before he continued on with his journey.

_His path for vengeance._

” _I wish to…_ “ He stopped. Hesitating briefly before shaking his head and crawling into his cold bed.

He had nothing to wish for, no practical wishes left to make.

_For the first time in forever, Killian had nothing._

————————————————————————————————————————

Emma was angry. No, she was way past angry now.

_She was pissed._

Not only did that son of a bitch do everything in his power to flirt with her, but he had to go get himself hit by a car. The stars were bright that night. She had stopped believing in them, believing in herself, but he challenged her.

He gave her something to live for, something to look forward too.

The  _banter_ , the  _flirting_ , she had started to  _enjoy_  herself.

To enjoy being around him. That was a silly thought, a crazy one at most. The guy was clearly out of his mind. But Emma found herself wanting him to give her a shot. She found herself missing the constant banter, the way he constantly had to outwit her and kept her on her toes, kept her believing.

As much as she hated him, she wanted him to stay around.

So that night, Emma found herself sitting in the window of the hospital room, as she waited for him to wake up. Her hands closed in front of her face and eyes closed.

“ _I wish I had a chance._ ” She didn’t notice his eyes trained on her face.

————————————————————————————————————————

Killian was sad.

_He had found another lost soul._

_There was just a tiny difference between them._

_She had different scars._

She was  _pure_  beauty, the way the sun reflected off her hair when she leaned across the table, that sarcastic smile crossing her face. Since then he had seen her real smile, the shy one, the one that told him more than he needed to know.

_The one that made him want to live again._

To give up this path of revenge just for a minute so he could bring that smile out again.

His resolve was only enhanced when he heard her whisper to the stars. It was so hesitant and quiet, he knew exactly what that was like.

What it was like to lose hope, to have the need to wish upon a star that was too far away to hear it.

As soon as he was sure Emma had left, the - _I’d pick you_ \- still ringing in his ears, he close his eyes himself.

The last time he made a wish, was a very long time ago, but he had  _something_  to wish for now.

 _Someone_ , to wish for.

“ _I wish to have a second chance._ ”

————————————————————————————————————————

Emma hadn’t made a wish in a long time. But sitting here on the deck of the Jolly, Killian’s arms wrapped around her waist as he pressed soft kisses into her hair, she realized she had one wish left.

_Only one._

She closed her eyes, the starts being blocked out by her eyelids. She didn’t say a word, remembering that kid from many years ago, but she practically screamed the wish in her head.

“Why do you do that, love?” Killian asked as her eyes opened again. There was something in his voice that told her he knew why.

_Yet, he always waited for her to tell him._

“Do what?” She tilted her head back, leaning it against his shoulder so she could see his face.

“Scrunch your face up when you see the stars.” She blushed sightly, shrugging as she did so.

“Its silly.” She mumbled, her eyes drifting away from his until his hand linked with hers.

“Nothing you ever say is silly, Swan…tell me.” She hesitated, chewing on her bottom lip before nodding, her eyes dropping to the charms around his neck as she twisted in his arms.

“When I was a kid, I overheard some classmates talking about wishing on stars. I was alone and scared, and thought that if I wished for a family I would get one…” She trailed off quietly, shrugging again. “See, told you it was silly.” He pressed a kiss to her nose.

“You and I are more alike than you would think, lass.” She tilted her head slightly, noting the pink rising in his cheeks.

“Did you do the same? When you were a child?” He nodded once and she grinned at him.

“So you made a wish just then, yes?” She nodded, locking her eyes with his.

“I can’t tell you, or it won’t come true.” He raised and eyebrow at her but she just pressed her lips against his. “Trust me, you’re going to want this wish to come true.” He bumped his nose against hers as he hummed in response, but she closed the distance between them once again.

_The last wish echoing inside her head._

“ _I wish to be with him forever._ ”


End file.
